


Daylight

by genevievedarcygranger



Series: Hotch x Reader / Hotch x You [26]
Category: Criminal Minds (US TV)
Genre: Christmas Movies, Couch Cuddles, Cuddling & Snuggling, Domestic, Domestic Fluff, F/M, Fluff, Happy Ending, It's a Wonderful Life, Love Confessions, M/M, More Hotch Content 2020, Movie Night, One Shot, POV Second Person, Prompt: Tooth-Rotting Fluff, Reader-Insert, Romance, Short One Shot, Sleepy Cuddles, Song Lyrics, Song fic, Song: Daylight (Taylor Swift), Tooth-Rotting Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-22
Updated: 2020-11-22
Packaged: 2021-03-10 00:47:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,982
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27664928
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/genevievedarcygranger/pseuds/genevievedarcygranger
Summary: You and Hotch have an evening to yourself.
Relationships: Aaron Hotchner/Reader, Aaron Hotchner/You, past Aaron Hotchner/Haley Hotchner - Relationship
Series: Hotch x Reader / Hotch x You [26]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1862236
Comments: 4
Kudos: 49





	Daylight

_“I once believed love would be black and white,_

_But it's golden…_

_I once believed love would be burning red,_

_But it's golden,”_

\- “Daylight,” _Taylor Swift_

* * *

Being with Hotch was different from anything you’ve ever known. For one, you’d never dated anyone with a child before. Jack still called you by name, but you were getting used to that. You knew you could never replace the parent he had lost. For another, you’d never made it to the stage of living with someone else before. You had moved into Hotch’s place around the time you realized that you there four out of the seven days of the week. You broke your apartment lease for him, and you helped him pay the bills and buy the groceries and clean the house and cook dinner. It was all so domestic. You loved it.

It was what made you realize that you love Hotch, though you had yet to tell him. You had a feeling that he knew, though. You were both profilers, but try as you might, you both couldn’t hide anything from each other. It’s why you two fit so well together, how you came together instead of avoiding what was brewing between you. The both of you talked it out and decided to give it a chance, and neither of you had regretted it in your one year of dating after four years of knowing each other. You and Hotch were happy together.

Tonight was one of those rare nights where Jack was away at a sleepover with Henry at JJ and Will’s. With Jack away, you both stayed longer at the office than you should of, but that was how you were able to get so much work done. You both came back home in time to cook a grown-up meal that wasn’t just spaghetti or take-out. There was salmon in the oven, a pot of rice on the stove, broccoli that wasn’t going to be smothered in cheese to be edible, and an opened bottle of wine between you two.

“We should watch a movie,” you suggested to Hotch. “Something that isn’t a cartoon.”

“What are you in the mood for?” Hotch asked. Even though he was usually the decision-maker at work, he was completely useless otherwise when he was at home. It made him more easy-going that way. You could boil chicken and throw it on a plate and Hotch would eat it without complaint. You could watch “The Bachelor” on repeat, and Hotch would be content to sit next you on the couch with a throw blanket thrown over both your legs. His ambivalence both soothed and frustrated you because sometimes you really wanted him to be a little selfish for once, but Hotch didn’t have such a bone in his body.

“I don’t really have anything in mind. Let’s just flip through the channels and find something.” You stopped him from sitting with a hand to his chest. “But I want you out of that suit first.” Hotch started to flush, but you just grinned and shook your head. “Come on, sweetheart. Relax a bit with me. Throw some sweats on and get rid of the tie.”

Good-naturedly, Hotch huffed. “Okay, I’ll go do that.” He grabbed your hand and kissed your fingertips before he went upstairs to do as you asked.

While he was gone, you finished up dinner and brought it into the living room. When Jack was home, it was a strict rule to only eat at the dining room table and with the TV off, but you were both adults who could be trusted not to spill your wine glasses. At the sound of Hotch’s heavy footsteps on the stairs, you turned and watched him come down, dressed in some sweatpants and an old Georgetown T-shirt. He’d even taken the time to scrub some of the product out of his hair. He caught you looking and paused before joining you. “What?”

“Nothing, I just…enjoy looking at my boyfriend,” you finished lamely, the words “I-love-you,” on the tip of your tongue.

With a boyish grin, Hotch rolled his eyes at your compliment and then plopped down on the couch. He grabbed one of the throw blankets, a Christmas themed one that Jack dragged out the day after Halloween, and spread it over your lap before pulling a corner over himself. “Did you find something to watch?”

“I was waiting for you, sweetheart,” you murmured as you watched him get settled. “I can share the blanket, you know, if you want to come a little closer.”

Hotch dropped his head, bashful. “I didn’t want to crowd you while we were eating.”

“That doesn’t bother me, Aaron.”

He didn’t look you in the eye as he answered, “I know.”

There was a lull as you took a sip from your wine glass. “Did I bother Haley?” you finally asked. Hotch had made it clear to you when you started dating that Haley wasn’t a taboo topic for him. She was part of his life for so long – nearly twenty years – that it would be weird for him not to mention her now and again. But that was the thing, Hotch or Jack were the only ones to bring her up. You felt like you didn’t have that right.

Beside you, Hotch did not outwardly react at the mention of her name, time numbing some of his grief. “Haley didn’t like to cuddle if we were eating. I think it made her self-conscious and she didn’t want to make a mess.”

“Hm…” You let the conservation drop as you and Hotch dug into dinner. Your hands juggled your half-full wine glass, your plate and fork, and the remote as you tried to find a movie. “It’s all Christmas-themed. Does that bother you?”

“No Hallmark, please,” Hotch requested. When you cocked an eyebrow in question, he explained his reasoning, “Most of them are just…sappy, and the ones that do make me cry make me feel stupid for crying at them. And besides, there are two many good Christmas movies to just pick a Hallmark one. Sometimes the Hallmark ones are just a little too sad, too. We don’t need that.”

“You’re right,” you agreed, “But don’t tell Emily that I told you that.”

Hotch chuckled and sat beside you in placid silence, watching you scroll through the movies on the channel guide. You half-hoped that he would speak up and help you decide, but he didn’t so you focused more on the titles as you flipped through them again a second time. “How about this one?”

“ _It’s a Wonderful Life_?” Hotch read and then hummed. “I never thought of this one as a Christmas movie, but it is. I like it.”

“Then it’s settled. We should watch it, and we won’t feel guilty for watching this without Jack since he’s too young to be interested in this anyway.” You started up the movie, and then found yourself actually paying attention to it even though you were familiar with the plot.

About thirty minutes into the movie, you both finished dinner and Hotch took it to the kitchen. You had to call him back to the couch before he could start cleaning up, urging him to leave it for tomorrow just this once. Hotch surprised you when he relented, but as soon as he was back on the couch with you, he was snuggling into your shoulder, an arm draped over your middle. You both re-immersed yourself in the movie while you languidly dragged your fingers through his hair, and it wasn’t until George Bailey pulled the whole “Do you want the moon?” line that you spoke up again.

“I’ve always wanted a love like that.”

You sensed Hotch look up at you from his position, even though you didn’t bother looking down to confirm it. “What do you mean? Someone to offer you the moon?”

"Not really the moon. But just…a love like in a black and white movie. High school sweethearts. Someone who has known me all my life and yet loves me anyway.” You cut yourself off from rambling quickly once you realized something. “I guess it’s like the love you and Haley had.”

Hotch shifted against you, rubbing his cheek against the fabric of your shirt. “I guess I did have a love like that. It was good for as long as I had it.”

"Is that the only kind of love you’ve known?” You asked, hoping Hotch could read between the lines for what you really wondering. Translation: _Is Haley the only person you’ve ever loved? Do you love me?_

It took Hotch a moment to formulate his reply. “I don’t think I’ll ever love anyone the way I loved – love – Haley, and that’s okay with me. But, but that doesn’t mean I won’t love again. It’ll just be different.”

“I understand,” you told him gently, because you did. What he said did not make you jealous, but neither did it completely abate your anxiety. You knew that you loved him, but you didn’t think he was there yet with you. No matter, because you were happy to wait. If it took Hotch his whole life to fall in love with you, while you wished it wouldn’t, you’d still wait and keep on loving him anyway.

The both of you lapsed into silence again. Eventually, the two of you shifted your positions until you were lying completely horizontal on the couch, your arm pillowed on the arm of the couch. Hotch was spread out on top of you like a weighted blanket, the Christmas throw blanket draped across his back like a cape. If you lifted your head, you’d notice how his feet were dangling over the edge of the other arm of the couch. His cheek was pillowed on your chest, and he occasionally released heavy sighs that sounded like they came all the way from his toes.

After his third one, you shifted your hands from his hair to his shoulders and squeezed. “Are you tired, sweetheart? We can always finish this another time.”

“No, it’s not that.” Hotch turned and buried his face against you, mumbling something.

“Can’t hear you, Aaron.”

Lifting his face, Hotch repeated, “I just… I never used to be able to relate to this movie so much.” He lifted his head further so he could look at you, and you twisted your neck to meet his eye. “And I can’t help but think about your question from before about love.”

“What about it all?”

Hotch brought his hand up and fiddled with the neckline of your shirt. “What is love in your experience? Is it…passionate?” His face twisted, though the expression was clearly more for himself than for you. “That isn’t what I mean. What I’m trying to ask is, you’re not bored with me are you?”

"Bored?” You repeated, brow furrowing in confusion.

“You’re not bored just watching this old movie with me? You wouldn’t rather go out clubbing or dancing or an expensive restaurant? You wouldn’t rather we spend our alone time doing something else when Jack’s gone?”

“Sweetheart,” you took his face between your hands, “I’m happy whenever I’m with you. I’m…”

This time it was Hotch’s turn to raise an eyebrow at you and your silence.

Taking a deep breath, this time the words tumbled off your tongue so easily. “I love you.”

The smile that Hotch gave you was like seeing the sun after the longest winter. He lifted himself on his knees and crawled forward until he could press his mouth to yours. Hotch stole the breath from your lungs, and when he pulled away, he told you almost smugly, “I love you more.”

Using the grip that you had on his cheeks, you pulled his face back to yours. “Impossible.” And you it to be true.


End file.
